


Dreamers

by overlycompensatedapprentice



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: And a good big brother, Fluff, One Shot, Other, Phillip is an Honorary Barnum, Sibling Bonding, Some big brother Phillip!, a bit of angst, and his wife - Freeform, and is ready to fight anyone who tries to hurt his adopted circus sisters, pt really needs to come home to his three children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-16 01:39:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13625838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overlycompensatedapprentice/pseuds/overlycompensatedapprentice
Summary: Caroline is upset after ballet practice, and it's up to Phillip to make her happy again





	Dreamers

**Author's Note:**

> The World needs some more fluffy big brother Phillip!!
> 
> Enjoy

Phillip Carlyle walked to pick up Caroline from her ballet lesson, with Helen in tow. P.T. was away on tour and Charity was busy that afternoon, so Phillip had volunteered to take Helen and get Caroline, to give their mother some peace so that she could get some things done around the house. There wasn’t going to be a show that evening, and Lettie had reassured him that he could slip away for a few hours without any trouble. 

He ignored the stares and sniggers from the high-class parents and snobs: ones who knew Phillip’s parents and knew what he had done. Knew that he had disgraced them so badly by taking up with the so-called circus freaks. By becoming a dreamer. 

“Shame,” They would mutter. “That boy had some potential, if only his parents could get his head on straight.”

If only they knew how hard his parents had tried. How hard they had tried to force him back into the life he lived, and how readily Phillip had resisted. The comments still stung no matter how much Phillip knew that he was a part of the circus now. He was never going back. 

 

Helen dipped her head a bit, hiding behind Phillip as though he could shield her from the world, Phillip reached behind him and tousled the girl’s hair as he walked.

He rounded the corner and saw the ballerinas coming from their lesson, laughing and snickering and talking. Their attention seemed to be focused on Caroline, who stood in the center of a group of laughing girls. 

Phillip strode closer, Helen just behind. When the girls saw him they scattered, leaving Caroline alone with Phillip and Helen. 

Caroline pushed past them without saying hello and began to walk back towards her mother’s house so that the pair couldn’t see her face. Phillip winced. It was not fair for the world to treat her this way. It had no right to sneer at a little girl for dreaming. For wanting to be a ballerina. 

“Caroline,” he said, running to catch up to her. She tried to move away from him but he blocked her path, and he knelt to look her in the eye before he tried again. “You don’t need to care what those girls say. You’re an amazing ballerina, better than all of them. They’re small-minded. They all are.” 

Abruptly, Caroline surged forward into his arms, burying her face in his chest and beginning to cry. Phillip wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, giving Helen an apologetic nod as he did so, then turning his full concern back to Caroline. 

Helen understood perfectly. She knew that Caroline needed her big brother right about then. She could wait for Phillip’s attention until Caroline was alright again. 

“I hate it,” Caroline sobbed. “I-I wish that… that there was some way to make them s-s-stop. That I could fit in.” She looked up at him through her tears. “W-w-why do they hate the circus so much.” 

Phillip wished that there was a simple answer for her. One that would let Caroline keep the innocent view of the world she was quickly losing in the hands of society’s judgments, and be honest with her. He decided that the question needed pondering, so instead, he made a suggestion. 

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, gently wiping the young girl’s tears away. “We don’t need to go home right away. Why don’t we go buy some chocolate at that candy store you like, then we can go to the park, watch the sunset maybe.” 

Phillip knew that Charity might worry if they came back late, but figured that once he explained the situation, everything would be fine. 

The suggestion seemed to make Caroline a bit happier, although she did note that Phillip completely evaded her question. Off they went. First to the chocolate shop, per Phillip’s promise. Phillip bought some chocolate for each of the girls, and some for himself as well. Caroline and Helen were both fond of the chocolate rabbits the shop owner sold. Then they began the short walk to Central Park, so that the girls could play. 

Phillip and Helen prattled on about everything and nothing to Caroline, trying to take her mind off things. Phillip told a story about a mishap at a rehearsal where Tom Thumb’s horse got spooked and ran astray, almost barreling him over to the point where he had to dive out of the way- that had Helen in stitches and even made Caroline giggle a bit. 

Phillip thought about the way Anne had laughed when that had happened, almost falling off of the trapeze. Anne had smiled down at him until their eyes met, then her smile had faded and she looked away. It was heartbreaking. It all was heartbreaking. 

He was glad he could at least keep Helen smiling, give the girl some reason to laugh while her father was away. 

They reached the park just before sundown, and Phillip led the girls to his favorite spot. It was one he’d discovered while he still wrote plays: a huge rock that sat on a hill, where one could see for a long time through the park and the stark city skyline. Phillip knew from experience that it was also a stellar place to watch the sunset. He’d sat here a lot, pondering the future. It was his place to think, to clear his head, and he hoped that it would have a similar effect on Caroline. 

They sat for a few minutes, eating their chocolate in silence, looking at the sun sinking ever lower in the sky. 

All of a sudden, Caroline dipped her head, as if trying to hide from something. Phillip glanced in the direction she’d been looking and his heart sank. 

He recognized the girl walking past as one who had been harassing Caroline outside the ballet lesson. He had the irrational desire to drop kick a ten-year-old over the nearest building for daring to hurt Caroline this way, it’s not like he ever would do such a thing, but the temptation was there. 

“T-t-they called daddy a f-f-freak,” Caroline burst out shakily, the tears threatening to spill once again. “T-t-they said that I-I-I was just one of the f-f-freaks.” She broke down almost completely. “T-t-they said that their parents said d-d-daddy had left us for good.”

Phillip had another irrational desire. The desire to get on the next train, go find Barnum, grab him by the collar, and drag him back where he belonged. Phillip understood the way Barnum thought: always try to get to the very, very top. This had gone too far. Phillip couldn’t stand the look on Charity’s face when she came home every day to no husband, their daughters to no father. Phillip was trying his best, but he could only do so much to remedy that. 

“Your father will come back,” Phillip replied, knowing in his heart it was true. “Their parents have no clue what they’re talking about, or who he is.” 

“B-b-but what if he doesn’t? He’s been gone so long,” Caroline whimpered. Helen had begun to cry too at some point during Caroline’s outburst, and it broke Phillip’s heart to see them like this. The drag-Barnum-back-by-the-collar idea was sounding more and more appealing. 

Phillip put an arm around each of them, pulling them close. “Listen to me, okay,” He said softly. “I know your father. He’s a dreamer: that’s what makes him so special, that’s why he was able to create something as amazing as the circus. You’re a dreamer, Caroline, and trust me, dreamers can do amazing things, just look at your dad,” He squeezed Caroline closer before he went on. “But sometimes…” he had to phrase this carefully. “Sometimes dreamers get so caught up in their dreams that they lose sight of what’s really important.”

“Is that what happened to daddy?” Caroline asked. 

Phillip nodded slowly. “But I also know something else about your dad: That he loves you more than anything else in this whole wide world. And he’ll remember that, and he’ll come back really, really soon, because he’ll remember that his family is the most important thing in the world.” As he said the words he knew that they were true. Jenny Lind’s singing voice would work its magic, then the spell would be broken. P.T. Barnum would come back home. 

Caroline looked happier now, but then she frowned. “You’re not gonna leave, are you?” 

Phillip gave each girl a kiss on the top of her head and said firmly. “I will be right here until your dad comes back and beyond. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Caroline and Helen both smiled at that, brightening. Phillip had reassured them, and by extension, himself, that P.T. Barnum would get his head on straight eventually. He would come back home to his family, and to the circus. Until then, Phillip would take care of his family, as he’d promised, and make for damn sure that Phineas didn’t leave again. 

“Why don’t we go home,” he said aloud. “I’m sure Charity is starting to worry.” 

“Can I have a piggyback ride?” Caroline asked eagerly, grinning up at him. She knew she’d get her way. 

Phillip rolled his eyes and smiled. He was such a sucker. “Fine, get on.” 

Caroline practically jumped on his back and he hoisted her up to a more comfortable position. “Ready?” 

They laughed and talked all the way home, the girls in better spirits than Phillip had seen in months. It felt really good. 

As he expected, Charity had been a little concerned, but one look at the faces of her children remedied that, and she simply good-naturedly scolded them for having chocolate before dinner.

Later that evening, Phillip pulled Charity aside to explain the situation. He figured that she deserved to know. When he told her about what the little primadonna brats had said, she tensed and muttered a few choice words about snobs. Then she glanced back at her girls, then to Phillip and her expression softened into a smile. 

“Those girls adore you, you know,” she said. “Thank you for everything you’re doing.” 

Phillip’s smile faded a bit. “I made a promise to Phineas, and besides, you’re giving me a place to stay, a home that I’ve never had before, little sisters I didn’t know I wanted. A family. Cheering up Caroline and Helen is the least I can do.” 

Charity put an arm around Phillip. “How many times are you going to thank me for this, Phillip. Really, it’s nothing. We have you staying here and still have ten empty bedrooms. And I, for one, don’t know how anything got done around here before you showed up.” She gave him a fond smile before glancing at the Carlyle estate, the place, and the people, that she and her husband were trying their best to protect Phillip from, barely visible down the street. “And besides, we weren’t just going to abandon you. Now, go on, I think your little sisters want you.” 

Indeed they did, and Charity watched her daughters tackle Phillip to the ground as he laughed, tousling their hair with a fond smile. He was an excellent big brother, she thought, and a surrogate son she’d always wanted in the back of her mind, and if Phineas had to leave, he couldn’t have found a better person to take his place until he came back.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr!!! its overlycompensatedapprentice and I post fanfic! and memes!!!!!


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